BMJ  2003;327:52 (5 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7405.52-b

Letter

Assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland

Distinction needs to be made between choice and obligation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR— I write in response to the article by Hurst and Mauron on assisted suicide.1 What is a human being? Our view of humankind almost always has consequences in our attitudes as to what is conceived to be right and wrong, how we understand, and how we interact with other people. As we are aware, the view of who a human being really is forms the basis for every question of ethics. We should be very concerned because a time is fast approaching when "right" to die will become "duty" to die.

The contemporary culture of consumerism values functional capacity and productivity, not altruism. Thus acute medicine and patients who can be cured take priority over those who are chronically ill. Society's contemporary intolerance for suffering, has, unfortunately, been fed by the medical profession and backed by the pharmaceutical industry. (The latter now stand silently in the shadows . . . [Full text of this article]

Mary J Curtis, head of education and training

Mount Edgcumbe Hospice, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 6AB Mary.Curtis@hospice.Cornwall.nhs.uk


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland: allowing a role for non-physicians
Samia A Hurst and Alex Mauron
BMJ 2003 326: 271-273. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Grand Rounds--Hammersmith Hospital: Persistent fever in pulmonary tuberculosis
BMJ 1996 313: 1543-1545. [Extract] [Full Text]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ